1982 Toyota Pickup Toy Blazer - Twisted Metal

The Toy Blazer Is Finally Complete

When it comes to truly historical minitrucks there are a handful that come to mind. But one of the craziest trucks ever built, which literally sparked the interest of the nation, is the Bob Grant Twisted Metal Toy-Blazer creation.

When I personally first laid eyes on this truck back in 1996 my whole world was changed! I became instantly addicted to minitrucks, especially Toyotas, and I sleeplessly followed this very magazine and all of the cool builds that graced its pages. But this truck has a rich history even before then.

Bob Grant from Grant Kustoms first picked up this 1982 Toyota in a trade for a CD player back in 1993 (back then, CD players were a hot ticket). He tinkered with it here and there but used it as a parts hauler carrying truck loads of his hand-fabbed sheetmetal parts to FBI and Alter Images.

Being Bob Grant, he couldn't exactly drive a stock truck forever so he cut right to the point and body-dropped it while it was still static-dropped. He drove it bodied and static-dropped for another month or two before he tore back into it to airbag it. Steve Neilson and Bob 'bagged the truck together and Bob added a 4-Runner rear bumper and shaved the bed rail. Bob was having a ton of fun tinkering with his Toy when he could, and eventually it was up to par to take to it's first show (pre-Blazer roof). Bob worked for over 48 hours straight on the truck before the show and was so exhausted that on the way home it got the best of him. He dozed off for a second and when he looked back up he was headed through a guard rail. The truck was smashed, the front end and frame were toast, and a very fitting name for this minitruck legend was born: Twisted Metal.

This is where the story of this fated mini takes a turn. Bob sold Twisted Metal and bought the Tacoma (that he eventually turned into the all-metal Roadster Taco) and body-dropped it to the doors. Then the new owner of Twisted Metal wanted an S-10 Bob had, so he traded back for it and Bob got a new frame along with the trade. This time around Bob had a vision and wanted to further twist some metal, so he began to piece it back together, adding an entire 4-Runner front end, 4x4 flares, and primed the whole truck. Now his vision was really coming to life and Bob was determined to build a minitruck like none other. To complete the truck's given name of Twisted Metal, Bob cut the roof off of a 1985 Blazer and began to work his magic mating it to the 1982 Toyota cab. To make it all work and look like a factory mod (which was no easy undertaking) Bob shortened the overall wheelbase 6 inches and hand-built the quarter panels, a rear combo, a new floor, and molded in '88-'98 Chevy taillights. He also cut a giant hole in the roof to utilize a full-length sliding ragtop. And suddenly Twisted Metal was no longer a truck, but became a rolling work of art. That year Bob took the truck to West Coast Nationals 1999 (more than ten years ago) and as he rolled into the show grounds it was like Moses parting the Red Sea. Bob rolled through the ST and NC camp and instantly found home. His hard work was really starting to pay off, and Grant Kustoms and the amazing metal work of Bob Grant had reached a new height in the custom world.

After that, Bob's workload had more than doubled and it was hard for him to find time to work on his own truck, unfortunately the Toyota was pushed to the back burner. As the saying goes, the shoe maker's daughter goes barefoot, right? Eventually Bob got an offer he couldn't refuse and traded his pride and joy for a 1957 Nomad, a 1955 four-door Chevy wagon, a 1957 Chevy two-door wagon, and two parts cars. The next phase of Twisted Metal's existence was through Jeremy Mosley, a member of Bob's Severed Ties Nor Cal chapter. Jeremy bought the truck from Kevin shortly after Bob traded it away to him and had plans of giving the Toy-Blazer the finishing touches. After getting it up and running, fine-tuning the suspension, and driving it to a few shows, Jeremy also ran out of the time and money necessary to see this project through to the finish. Jeremy ended up trading Twisted Metal for a past MT feature truck from Dave Prater.

2007
Jeremy Mosley began to bring the Toyota back to life slowly but surely.

Dave Prater from the Nor Cal Forbidden Fantasy chapter was on a mission and was the final piece to this puzzle. He wanted to make sure that this iconic minitruck finally got the recognition it deserved and wanted to finish Twisted Metal for all to see. He worked a deal with Jeremy and traded his past Mini Truckin' Toyota feature truck for the 1982 Toy-Blazer. Jeremy had already put some work into the truck, helping to bring it back to life, but Dave had a plan of attack to finish it in full hot-rod fashion once and for all. With the help of Cheese and some of his other FFF club buddies, Dave tore Twisted Metal apart and began to go to work. Building an all-metal hot-rod style dash and center console, detailing the motor and suspension, and prepping the body for a smooth black paint job, Dave wasn't messing around. Dave teamed up with Victor Monge of R&A the Autopolster and Bill Flynn to wrap the seats, door panels, and finish off the interior with a clean tan hot-rod feel. Dave spent a solid four months making sure everything was straight and giving Twisted Metal the overhaul that it deserved. Dave sprayed the Toyota with a deep black that accented the amazing metal work performed by Bob Grant. After a long four months, Dave and his buddies stood back and knew they had finally brought this historic mini back to life.

Twisted Metal is finally complete after more than 15 years in the making. Even though this truck has been in the hands of many, it was Dave who took on the challenge head first and vowed completion. Being Dave's first cover truck, this is truly an accomplishment. As he's had a few trucks grace these pages we know we haven't seen the last of him and his crew. For more information and pics on this trucks history check out the Timeline along with the Lowdown.

Special Thanks From Owner:
"I would like to thank my girlfriend Holly, Jeremy Mosle, Cheeze, Zach Peters, Bob Grant, Doug Bigone, the crew at Sparky's Collision, Luie Guerrero, and Guerrero Brothers Auto Body, Chad and Bill and my whole club FFF for the support. Smog rich, we did it again!"